Compaq carries Pracom to global markets

An all-in-one telecommunications solution for Intelligent Network (IN) service development and management has been produced by Australian company Pracom in league with Compaq, which will market the product internationally. A spokesman said the Indus IN service node solution will allow the provision of enhanced telecommunications services faster and more easily than with normal IN systems.

The spokesman claimed Indus supports signalling, voice and switching functions within a single integrated system, and is the first system in the world to support the International Telecommunications Union's CS2 standard.

Indus is built on Compaq's Alphaserver Intelligent Peripheral platform and uses Pracom's telephony scripting language.

"Indus is the result of extensive joint development and we are very proud to be delivering such cutting edge Australian technology to the global market," explained David Paranthoiene, Pracom's managing director. "The flexibility of the product allows customers to achieve rapid development and deployment of enhanced telecommunications solutions at a very competitive price with the ability to meet growing customer demand through Indus's scalable architecture."

Paranthoiene said that some pre-selling of the product has been occurring in most parts of the world and Compaq is now undertaking education sessions for its sales teams. Neither company has released early demand figures, although it is claimed that strong interest has been received from Asia, Europe and Latin America.

Technology One wins green light in MalaysiaListed software and services company, Technology One has been awarded Multimedia Super Corridor (MSC) status by the Malaysian Government just one month after opening its first overseas office in Kuala Lumpur.

The MSC is Malaysia's effort to develop an IT precinct capable of attracting investments from IT companies around the world, and Adrian Di Marco, managing director of Technology One, said MSC status gave Technology One instant credibility and opened doors within the government and corporate sectors.

"Establishing a foreign-owned company in Malaysia can be a difficult process," Di Marco explained. "One of the major benefits of MSC status is that we can develop business connections more quickly because the Malaysian market views it as assurance that we're reliable and committed to the region for the long-term."

MSC status brings other benefits, including a five year exemption from Malaysian income tax, unrestricted employment of foreign knowledge workers, duty free importation of multimedia equipment, and access to government research grants.

Cisco picks up Swiftel network

Cisco and West Australian company Solution 6 Alphawest have won a contract to implement, commission and maintain a fibre optic network for Swiftel Communications. The deal is expected to be worth about $A2 million.

Chris Gale, CEO of Swiftel, said the equipment will allow the carrier to extend its capability beyond that of an "old world" carrier. "The network will be designed around Internet protocol and will be the first IP-based carrier-class network installed in Western Australia," he claimed.

Gale noted that the IP network will allow the provision of services such as voice-over-IP networking, and offer the technical ability to deliver new services to consumers, "reducing churn and attracting customers from those who can't offer the same services in the same timeframe".

Swiftel has completed construction of a new network and data operation centre in Perth, from which it is already providing network management for Singapore Telecom. The IP network is scheduled to become fully operational in November.

Amcom supplies bandwidth to SingTel

West Australian company Amcom Telecommunications has agreed to supply Singapore Telecom with bandwidth stretching between all Australian capital cities in return for access to SingTel's international network. Andy McLean, managing director of Amcom, said the alliance leverages off complementary strengths of the two companies. "I believe it will dramatically increase the traffic across our networks and generate substantial new revenue streams for Amcom," he explained.

The main aspects of the alliance are:

Amcom gains access to SingTel's international fibre optic network and International Exchange, allowing it to offer international services to Australian customers;Amcom provides turnkey links between SingTel's Australian corporate clients to nominated data centres, allowing SingTel to offer virtual private networking services;Amcom will provide trans-Australian bandwidth linking all Australian capital cities; andThe establishment of co-location facilities.

Amcom recently negotiated a wholesale agreement with Telstra giving it access to the national carrier's fibre optic networks on the East Coast of Australia.

Government moves to ease outsourcing

The Australian Government has moved to ease the industry development requirements on companies bidding for government IT outsourcing contracts, allowing tenderers to count existing work towards future contracts but keeping details secret.

A joint statement released by John Fahey, Minister for Finance and Administration, and Richard Alston, Minister for Communications, IT and the Arts, said that the government had established a confidential Project Register which formalises consultation processes previously adopted by the Office of Asset Sales and IT Outsourcing (OASITO) and DCITA for the management of industry development. The new arrangements have been included in the recently released request for tender document for the Group 11 outsourcing tender.

"Companies will now be able to confidentially register industry development projects with the government, allowing them to commence irrespective of the timing of the tender process," Senator Alston claimed. "This mechanism will assist companies that have large-scale industry development projects which they wish to apply to more than one tender."

Alston added that a company that intends to include a large-scale project in its industry development proposal for one or more future outsourcing tenders may request OASITO to register that project on a confidential basis.

The ministers also announced "an expanded view of regional outcomes" within the industry development requirements through which recognition will be given to "business flowing to regional enterprises" and additional regional investment.

Big hitters join list for Group 11

The usual suspects have put their hands up - along with more than 100 other interested parties -- to try and win the Australian Government's Group 11 outsourcing contract. The Big Three of Computer Sciences Corp, EDS and IBM Global Services Australia are, of course, included, as are AAPT (but not Telecom NZ), Telstra and Optus Networks. Newly listed Northern Territory company eNTITYy1 -- which has Prins Ralston, former president of the Australian Computer Society, as its managing director -- has also thrown its hat into the ring.

The five year contract is for the provision of about 1100 mainframe MIPS, some 750 "midrange computers", and about 8000 desktop machines, LAN services, data telecommunications and a range of cross platform services for the Department of Employment, Workplace Relations & Small Business; Department of Education, Training & Youth Affairs; Australian Securities & Investments Commission; National Library of Australia; and the Department of the Treasury. Details from www.oasito.gov.auMicrosoft gets first shot at Appeals CourtMicrosoft won a strategic court victory this week when the US Supreme Court decided it would not hear the developer's appeal against antitrust findings against until it has been through the Court of Appeals. The appeals court is perceived to be more friendly towards Microsoft not least because it reversed a decision two years ago that prohibited Microsoft from bundling its Internet Explorer Web browser with its Windows operating system.

Even if the Court of Appeals does find in Microsoft's favour and overturns the finding of Justice Thomas Penfield Jackson - that Microsoft be split into two separate companies - the case will eventually end up back in the Supreme Court. However, Microsoft has won valuable time to prepare and present its case, and to try to overcome Penfield's opinion that it had used its monopoly to thwart competition and stifle innovation.

The immediate impact of the Supreme Court's decision, however, is to prolong a case that began in May 1998 and shows no signs of ending in the near future. The Court of Appeals is unlikely to hear the case until late in 2001, and the Supreme Court would not be expected to reach a decision before mid-2002, according to US observers.

News briefs

An Internet portal providing information about electronic commerce for businesses has been established by the Knowledge Based Economy branch of the Australian Department of Industry Science and Resources. The site, which provides access to information and research data from a variety of government departments and agencies, can be found at http://www.isr.gov.au/industry/ecommerceinfo/Austrade is rounding up companies wanting to strut their stuff at CeBit, the world's largest IT trade show in Hannover, Germany, next March. "The best way for local companies to be present in prime locations is by participating on the Austrade-co-ordinated Australian National Stands," a spokesman claimed. He added the caution that companies have only one week left to lodge an expression of interest to Austrade. http://www.austrade.gov.au/cebit2001/Listed Internet company Legalco has been appointed online information broker by the Queensland Department of Natural Resources to provide online land title and related property information in the state. The company was recently appointed to similar roles for Landata in Victoria and for Sydney Water.

News briefs from abroad

The US Navy is gearing up to award one of the most complex outsourcing deals ever contemplated. The eight-year contract for the Navy/Marine Corps intranet, which is intended to replace dozens of networks with a centrally managed network run by the outsourcer, will be valued at between $US12 billion and $US16 billion. Hot favourite for the deal is CSC, although EDS, IBM and General Dynamics are also in the running.

SAP is planning to outsource the maintenance of its R/3 software to Indian companies "providing we can ensure our control over it", according to SAP board member Peter Zencke. Speaking to the IDG News Service, Zencke said the maintenance will include bug fixing and the integration of new features and components, as well as some customer support. SAP already works with Indian developer Infosys Technologies.

IBM Global Services has begun offering a network-delivered storage service that allows them to store data on servers managed by IBM. Clients will be able to purchase storage capacity and management services at their own sites or at IBM data centres. The service is available now in the US and is expected to be made available Down Under early next year.

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